Defending Champion Venus Wins Wuhan Opener

Defending champion, Venus Williams moved into the third round of the Wuhan Open with a comfortable 6-3 6-2 victory over Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva.

Putintseva had won their last meeting in Charleston, but she barely had a sniff on Tuesday as Williams completely bossed the match with her power and aggression.

Having established a 5-2 advantage in the first set, Williams faltered while serving for the set, but the seven-time Grand Slam champion recovered to break Putintseva in the next game and bag the opener.

The second set followed a similar pattern, with Williams opening up a big advantage, stumbling while serving for the match, and hitting back to break for victory.

A stinging backhand winner got the job done after an hour and 12 minute.

The 36-year-old will take on Russian, Svetlana Kuznetsova in the next round.

In other matches, US Open champion, Angelique Kerber won her first match since her ascent to the top of the world rankings- beating Frenchwoman, Kristina Mladenovic 6-7 6-1 6-4, while Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska also impressed in a 6-4 6-1 dispatch of Russia’s Ekaterina Makarova.

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